1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a flux-cored wire for gas-shielded arc welding of heat resisting steel. More particularly, the present invention relates to a flux-cored wire for gas-shielded arc welding of heat resisting steel which is easy to work and gives weld metal having good mechanical properties such as strength and toughness. The flux-cored wire corresponds to YFM-C, YFCM-C, YF1CM-C, and YF2CM-C specified in JIS Z3318-1991 (flux-cored wire for MAG welding of Mo steel and Cr-Mo steel) or corresponds to A1, A1M, B1, B1M, B1L, B1LM, B2, B2M, B2L, B2LM, B2H, B2HM, B3, B3M, B3L, B3LM, B3H, and B3HM specified in AWS A5.29-1998 (Specification for Low-Alloy Steel Electrodes for Flux-Cored Arc Welding).
The present invention relates also to a flux-cored wire for gas-shielded arc welding of Cr-Mo steel (represented by ASTM A387 Gr. 2, 11, 22) and Mo steel (represented by ASTM A204 Gr. A). To be concrete, the present invention relates to a flux-cored wire for gas-shielded arc welding of Cr-Mo steel containing 0.25-3.0 wt % Cr and 0.25-1.5 wt % Mo and Mo steel containing 0.25-1.0 wt % Mo.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the field of heat-resisting steel, gas-shielded arc welding is dominating over shielded metal arc welding because of its high efficiency. Wires for gas-shielded arc welding fall under two categoriesxe2x80x94solid wires and flux-cored wires. The latter have many advantages over the former. For example, flux-cored wires give rise to less spatter than solid wires and cover the bead surface with slag, producing a bead with a good appearance and shape. In addition, it ensures good welding maneuverability regardless of unfavorable welding positions, such as vertical and overhead positions. Unfortunately, as compared with solid wires, flux-cored wires are more likely to give weld metal poor in mechanical properties, particularly toughness. One reason for this is that in the case of welding with rutile-flux-cored steel wires, molten slag does not float on or separate from molten metal completely, partly remaining as non-metallic inclusions in weld metal, with the result that the oxygen content in weld metal becomes as high as 700-900 ppm (by mass).
A conventional way to cope with the deterioration of weld metal in toughness due to rutile-flux-cored steel wires is by deoxidation of weld metal or by refinement of microstructure.
For example, there is disclosed a new flux-cored wire for gas-shielded arc welding in Japanese Patent Publication No. 44159/1984. It is designed to reduce the oxygen content in weld metal by incorporation of Mg, metallic Ti, and Fe-Ti into the flux, thereby improving the toughness of weld metal.
There is also disclosed a combined wire for gas-shielded arc welding in Japanese Patent Publication No. 6840/1981. It is designed for deoxidation of weld metal and refinement of microstructure by controlling the amount of TiO, TiO2, B, and B2O3 so that weld metal has good toughness ness even in the case of welding with a large amount of heat.
There is disclosed another flux-cored wire for gas-shielded arc welding in Japanese Patent Publication No. 13432/1996. It is characterized in that the metal tube and flux contain Ti, Ni, and B as well as a limited amount of nitrogen because it is known that nitrogen has an adverse effect on toughness.
There is disclosed further another flux-cored wire in Japanese Patent Publication No. 13432/1996 and Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 77086/1993. It contains a trace amount of Nb and V so as to prevent the occurrence of coarse ferrite particles and ferrite band having an adverse effect on strength and toughness.
The disadvantage of the flux-cored wire disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 44159/1984 is that mere incorporation with Mg and Ti does not reduce oxygen content in weld metal and hence does not improve the toughness of weld metal through reduction of oxygen content. It has another serious disadvantage of causing slag inclusion, more spatter, and poor bead shape in welding.
The combined wire disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 6840/1981 has a disadvantage of being unable to reconcile welding maneuverability with weld metal having good mechanical properties as in the case of flux-cored wire disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 44159/1984.
The flux-cored wire disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 13432/1996 inevitably causes air inclusion as wire extension varies during welding. Air inclusion results in an increase in nitrogen content in weld metal, with no noticeable improvement in toughness and electrode usability.
The flux-cored wire disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 13432/1996 and Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 77086/1993 effectively prevents the occurrence of ferrite particles and ferrite band owing to a trace amount of Nb and V contained therein. However, mere incorporation with Nb and V is not enough to improve strength and toughness. Moreover, incorporation with Nb and V makes slag removal difficult. Hence, it does not achieve compatibility between welding maneuverability and weld metal having good mechanical properties as intended in the present invention.
The present invention was completed to address the above-mentioned problems. It is an object of the present invention to provide a flux-cored wire for gas-shielded arc welding of heat resisting steel which offers good welding maneuverability and gives weld metal having good mechanical properties.